An off-season that began brightly after a sprightly AFL trade period has turned to hell for the Fremantle Dockers, with key defender Michael Johnson now facing an assault charge and star recruit Harley Bennell reportedly re-injuring his troublesome calf.
Johnson, 32, was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm over the bizarre incident at Leederville kebab shop Cosmos last month.
Dockers defender Michael Johnson charged
Police have confirmed that star Docker Michael Johnson has been charged over an alleged assault during a night out in Leederville. Vision: Nine News perth.
Police said the All-Australian defender assaulted a Bunbury school teacher who filmed the star Docker with his pants down in the popular late-night eatery, with the footage aired on Seven News.
Johnson was elevated back into Fremantle's leadership group in January after being dropped in 2010 because of a drug charge.
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The bad news doesn't end there for Fremantle fans, with Bennell - recruited from the Gold Coast at the end of 2015 but yet to play a game for his new club - missing training this week and Wednesday's usual pre-season 3km time trial, won by Hawthorn recruit Brad Hill.
The no.2 pick in the 2010 national draft, Bennell missed all of Fremantle's horror 2016 season because of a recurring calf injury and has reportedly injured it again, in a big blow to Ross Lyon's plans to rebound from that disastrous 4-18 year.
Just days after the Johnson incident became public, mature-age recruit Shane Yarran informed the club he had been charged with aggravated common assault.
The 27-year-old told the Dockers he plans to plead not guilty, with the club saying it understands the incident involves a family member.
The distractions threaten to derail the club's most successful trade period, where it added main forward target Cam McCarthy (GWS), speedy midfielder Brad Hill (Hawthorn) and big men Joel Hamling (Western Bulldogs) and Shane Kersten (Geelong).
The Dockers also hold seventh pick in Friday's AFL national draft.
Johnson will appear in Perth Magistrates Court on January 18